The retail industry is often faced with a dilemma. On the one hand, how to make their displays open and inviting to potential purchasers, while on the other hand still protecting their inventory and most valuable items from theft.
Robberies from retailers or other businesses usually happen very quickly and often involve high value items. The perpetrators attempting this type of theft act very quickly and may use threats or violence to intimidate staff and to circumvent traditional security systems. Moreover, conventional security measures such as silent alarms and surveillance cameras are routinely ignored by determined criminals and thus these security measures are typically ineffective in preventing breaking and entering premises such as homes and businesses, and subsequent theft of valuables or inventory.
In order to address the above-mentioned issues, security systems including smoke generators or fog generators have been developed. These systems can in just a few seconds produce a thick cloud of artificial disorienting and impenetrable smoke or fog. In contrast to surveillance cameras and alarms, smoke or fog security systems immediately stop intruders and would be thieves in their tracks by obscuring everything from sight within seconds. This disorienting fog usually results in redirecting the intruders' efforts from targeting valuables for theft to finding an exit from the building.
The security smoke or fog systems can also be used in conjunction with audio and lighting to provide an even stronger deterrent. These systems are designed to provide protection in that critical time between activation of the system and the arrival of a response team.
The dense disorienting smoke or fog causes would be thieves to lose the ability to strike quickly, as they are distracted by the intense fog which also prevents them from being able to distinguish the most valuable items they were attempting to steal. When such a dense smoke or fog is activated most intruders will immediately abandon any attempt to make off with valuables and seek to leave the area as quickly as possible.
Security smoke or fog generators can be easily integrated into existing alarm systems, such as access and control systems and closed circuit television (CCTV) security systems. However, while these security smoke or fog systems may prevent theft and/or minimize the amount of such theft, the available security smoke or fog systems do not provide a method to later identify the intruders/thieves and/or uniquely identify any recovered inventory item that were missing from the premises.
Thus, there is still a need in the art for a security smoke or fog system which not only deters intruders and theft, but also provides a proven reliable method of identifying whether a person of interest was present when the smoke or fog system was activated, and uniquely identifies inventory items marked by the activated smoke or fog system.